A time to hear, a time to heal
by doc boy
Summary: While spending time with his friends Ash discovers he has the abilities to hear people's thoughts. After hearing one of May's private thoughts concering him, it's up to him to make it right...


A time to hear, a time to heal

I do not own Pokémon

Note: in this story Ash and May are fourteen.

Ash and his friends were camping out in a forest clearing, somewhere in the Hoenn region. He was playing checkers with Max while they were sitting on a log. Everything seemed normal until May approached him and he suddenly felt hot.

"Hey Ash, having you seen Torchik's food?"

Before Ash could answer he could hear her voice in his head.

 _"Oh, I have to come up with a better excuse to talk to him…"_

Baffled, Ash just stared at her. May blinked.

"Ash? Hey Ash, you there?" she waved her hand in front of him

"Huh?"

"I asked if you've seen Torchik's food",

 _"Well that was weird. Not that I'm complaining though. Heh, heh…"_ she giggled playfully.

Ash just stared at her for a second more and just shook his head to clear his mind.

"No, May I haven't. Sorry",

"Oh okay. Thanks anyway Ash", she said and turned around.

 _"He's such a nice guy…"_ he heard her voice again and looked at her as she walked on.

"What's the matter?" asked Max.

"Did you…?" trailed off Ash as he looked at him with a very puzzled look on his face.

"What?" asked Max. Ash turned back to look at May again.

"Nothing. Forget I said anything. Your move Max",

"Well okay…"

 _"That was weird…"_ he heard his voice and Ash placed. He got up.

"I need some air", he said.

"We're outside Ash", Ash turned around and snapped at him.

"Well I do alright?" he said in distress and walked off.

 _"That wasn't cool…"_ he said and Ash screamed in panic and ran out of the forest. May peeked at his direction.

"What's wrong with Ash?" she asked.

"I don't know. He just lost it", said Max.

"Huh. That's weird. Ash is a pretty level headed guy",

"It's still weird",

"Yeah, well maybe a good walk would do him some good…" said May and Max nodded.

Ash ran out of the forest and into town where he found peace and quiet. He went to the Pokémon center to have a drink of water. On the way he ran into nurse joy.

"Hello Ash. How are you?"

"I'm okay",

"Are you sure? You look a little pale",

"I'm… I'm fine nurse joy", he said iin a somewhat robotic voice.

"Are you sure? You seem a little tense",

"I'm fine... just spooked. Do you have a water fountain around here?"

"Right over there", said the nurse and pointed to a fountain by the video phones. Ash went over to it and drank up. After he did, he felt a little relaxed but still nervous. He looked over the video phones.

 _"Maybe Mom could tell me what's going on…"_ he said and walked over and sat down by one of them. He dialed his home number and waited for someone to answer. Suddenly his mother's face filled the screen.

"Hi Ash! How's my special boy doing?" she asked cheerfully.

"Not to good Mom…" he said blankly. Her face went from happy to concern.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"I think I might be going crazy. I was just hanging out with my friends and I started hearing their voices in my head and I felt warmth coming from one of them. What is going on? Am I becoming schizophrenic? Do we have any relatives who are schizophrenic? Because I'm getting really freaked out",

To his surprise a small smile appeared on her face.

"What could possibly be funny?"

"You have the gift Ash",

He blinked densely.

"The gift?"

"Yes the gift. It's called Aura. It gives you the abilities to sense people's emotions and hear their thoughts",

Ash's eyes widened in shock.

"So you mean to tell me I just heard May's and Max's thoughts?"

"Bet you did. Was May was the one radiating warm feelings?"

"Yes. Is that good?" asked Ash once again proving his density.

"Perhaps. If you act upon it", said Delia slyly.

"Huh?"

"She likes you Ash", she said it out straight.

"I like her too. She's my friend",

"That's not I mean Ash. I mean as in like you like you…"

"Oh… yeah I do. I just…" Ash trailed off and blushed as he sank into his chair.

"Well then tell her Romeo", said Delia as his blush intensified.

"Did you know I had this ability?" he asked trying to change the subject.

"II had a feeling you might get it sooner or later.. I know my grandfather had it",

"So why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I wasn't sure you would get it and I didn't want to get you worked up for nothing",

"Well I am worked up now…" he said.

"Don't be. You can block them out if you want",

"How?"

"Simple. You just make a conscience decision to block them out and they're out but it takes twenty four hours to take effect. So you might want to be careful around them. Wouldn't them getting upset if they know",

"Is there a way to make it work sooner?"

"I'm afraid not dear. But I'm sure you'll be able to work it out",

He smiled at her.

"Thanks Mom",

"Anytime sweetie. I have to go now. There's a sand storm here so I need to get the dust out of my hair",

"Okay Mom. See you later" but before he could hang up he saw Mr. Mime vacuum the rug behind her and as soon he heard her say she had dust in her hair he went compulsive again and placed the vacuum cleaner on her head. She shrieked.

"Ow! Not me Mr. Mime! The rug! The rug!"

Ash laughed.

"I'll see you later Mom", he said and hung up. He sighed with relief, glad he wasn't going crazy. He walked back to the camp site but before he go there he made the conscious decision not to listen to their thoughts. When he reached them he was greeted by May who was holding Torchik in her hands.

"Hey Ash are you okay? We were kinda worried about you",

"Yeah I'm fine I was just a little startled by something",

"Startled? By what?"

Struggling to come up with an excuse Ash said.

"I thought I forgot my Pokedex in the Pokémon center so I ran over to get it"

"But Ash your Pokedex was right beside you when you ran off. Are you hiding something?"

"No!" he choked

"No. I'm fine I just needed some time for myself",

"Since when do you take time off to be with yourself?" Max budded in. Feeling the knot tighten around him Ash was on the verge of panic.

"Oh well you know ii just felt like it…"

The two siblings exchanged looks.

"Ash have you been eating poke food again?" asked May.

"No. I'm fine okay? Just leave me alone",

Slightly offended by his attitude May backed off.

"Hey relax I was just trying to help",

Becoming aware of what he's done Ash became sad.

"Sorry May. I guess I kinda felt smothered by all these questions",

"It's okay. I ask because ii care that's all",

"Yeah I know", he said and she smiled and walked back into the clearing. A few hours later they sat around the fire and ate some roasted Magicarp. After a while everyone went to sleep except for Ash and May who were up talking. Suddenly a breeze came along and May shivered. Without giving it a second thought he gave her his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. Now he was feeling warmth from three sources. From May, the fire and himself.

"Thanks Ash", she said sweetly.

"You're welcome" he said and sat back down and put his hands in front of the fire to warm himself up.

 _"He's such a sweet guy… it's no wonder I love him…"_

Before he could stop himself Ash said with a smile.

"Thanks May", he said warmly.

She looked at him.

"What?" she said.

"You said I was sweet", he said. Only then did he realize the mistake he made. He paled. So did she.

 _"Oops…"_

"How?... how did you know?..."

"Well it's… you see I…"

"You can read people's thoughts?"

"Well it's not that I WANT to. I only discovered it today. After I spoke to my mom she said I could turn it off but it takes twenty fours to take effect. There was no way for me to block it out",

"Wait so that means you heard what I thought afterwards?"

"Well I…"

At first May paled. Then she wailed in tears and ran off into the forest crying. As she ran he could hear her wailing.

"It wasn't supposed to happen like this! He wasn't supposed to find out like this!" this woke Max up.

"Ash what's going?" he asked while rubbing his eyes.

"Nothing Max. Just go back to sleep" he said and ran after her.

"Where are you going?" he asked and rolled over to follow him with his eyes.

"May, wait up!" he called after her. Before he could say another word May started throwing leaves at him.

"You two bit jerk Ash Ketchum! I've had these feelings for you for years! And you steel those thoughts from within me! I couldn't even get the chance of telling you properly!" she said as she resorted to throwing rocks and sticks at him, getting his arms bruised.

"May please listen. I had no control over it. As soon as I could I tried to turn it off to protect your privacy but I had no choice but to wait",

"Yeah but that didn't stop you from hearing my deepest secret did it?" her face came out from the darkness, her face red with anger and anguish. Saddened by her distraught expression Ash tried to calm her down he tried to put his hand on her shoulder but she slapped it off.

"Get away from me! Don't touch me! You jerk! You creep! You two bit love confession moment stealer!" she yelled as she started slapping and punching him and started banging on his chest as she broke down in misery and fell to the ground. Ash held her in his arms as she cried miserably onto his shoulder. He held her head in his palm and rubbed it slightly in an attempt to comfort her. He knew she was right so he didn't know what to say. All he could do was think reassuring thoughts and hope they would go through. Maybe one of his powers includes telekinesis.

After a while May started hearing Ash's voices in her head.

 _"I'm sorry May. I'm so, so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you like that. It was an accident. And I would do anything to make up for it…"_

Not expecting these thoughts, May did the math.

"Is that you doing that Ash?" she asked.

"Yeah. Should I stop?"

"No keep doing it. It feels good. It's soothing…" she said and rested her head on his chest as he stroked her hair slightly.

Ash blushed.

"Okay…" he said softly as he stroked her hair gently as he held her in his arms.

 _"I'm sorry I stole your moment and invaded your privacy May. I promise that as of tomorrow this ability will be gone and your privacy will be safe once again…"_ she hummed pleasantly.

"Continue…" she said dreamily.

 _"I know I invaded your privacy and I shouldn't have done that but I want you to know that I love you too. Do you hear me? I love you…"_ she opened her eyes.

"You love me?"

"Yes. I do. With every soul and fiber of my being",

She smiled and her face turned red.

"I'm glad", she said and they both smiled.

 _"Close your eyes…"_ she instructed in her mind and he complied. She gently let go from the hug. She removed her bandana and moved closer to his face. Her face was inches away from his and it was burning with heat and anticipation and it almost exploded when their lips touched as they kissed for the first time.

 _"This is wonderful…"_ they both thought as May put her arms around Ash's neck as he put his around her waist as they kissed passionately with all the love in the world. They wanted to stay like that forever, but alas, their lungs cried uncle and they had to separate so they could breathe.

"That was…" began May.

"Amazing…." He finished for her and she nodded.

"Yeah",

""I'm sorry I invaded your privacy May. Friends again?" he asked once again showing his denseness. She smirked and pecked him on the lips.

"More than just friends. But promise me one thing", she said with a sly smile.

"What's that?"

"Always read my mind", he said and he smiled too. He kissed her passionately on the lips.

"Consider it done", he said as they kissed passionately once more as they fell to the ground and slowly fell asleep in each other's arms on the leafy forest floor under the night sky…

The end…

Well there was a cute touching one. Not to mention unique. A bit of change of pace if you will. Special thanks to Omegaxis1 for inspiring it. Anyway thanks for reading it guys, and if you would push the review button below I would very much appreciate it.

Peace out guys…


End file.
